Departing Eagle speaks candidly on his delisting, calls out “disgusting” social media abuse

Josh Rotham will take some time to “decompress” before deciding if he wants to pursue another AFL opportunity.

The 26-year-old was delisted by West Coast on Monday after eight seasons and 72 games for the Eagles.

He admits the decision was difficult to hear but he does understand given the situation the club finds itself in after a few tough seasons.

“It’s always hard. I’ve seen a few mates go through it over my time at the club,” he said on SEN WA Breakfast.

“It’s a ruthless industry and being in limbo, I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. The last few years have been really tough, for us as players not getting the wins, but especially for the fans.

“I understand why the decision has been made and I’ll just move forward.”

Rotham was linked with Essendon during the recent trade period but that reported interest has not yet amounted to anything.

In the meantime, Rotham says he is planning to take a break before seeking any potential opportunities.

“I love footy, I’ll definitely be having a kick next year, it’s just a matter of where,” Rotham said further.

“I’ll leave that to my manager regarding interest from other clubs, but there have been a few phone calls made.

“But for now I just want to decompress for a couple of weeks and work out what I want to do, whether it’s continue playing AFL footy or get a job and play at another level.

“I’m going to put my feet up for a couple of weeks, be with my thoughts and we’ll go after that.”

The West Perth product also had a parting shot for the keyboard warriors out there who feel the need to send direct messages to players.

He described some of the correspondence he received over the course of his time with the Eagles as “disgusting”.

“It’s just the nature of the beast in a way. Social media is so accessible now,” Rotham continued.

“I wouldn’t say this if I was still at the club, but I’m going to say it - there are people who can sit on the couch stuffing their face with pies and tell you how to play the game.

“I find it quite funny. As a player you’ve just got to find ways to block it out.

“Some of the stuff you can receive on social media in your direct messages is pretty disgusting. I just tried to ignore it and listen to people within the four walls over the last eight years.

“It’s tough but it’s what we sign up for. People are passionate about the game, there’s two sides to it. There can be some cowardly people going after you as a person.”

The Eagles announced last week that they had not offered new contracts to Alex Witherden, Jai Culley and Coby Burgiel, but Rotham’s name was not included.

He has revealed that he wanted to break the news to his family and friends first before the club sealed his fate.

“I’ve had a few questions around that,” said Rotham, who posted his departure on Instagram on Monday.

“It was a bit of a funny one. I was over at Jeremy McGovern’s bucks party, I got a verdict from my manager which I did ask for. I’d rather hear it through him than anyone else.

“I had the weekend over at Gov’s bucks, then I just wanted to meet in person yesterday before they announced it themselves.

“I was thinking about it and thought people would want to hear it from me rather than the club first. There was malice in it at all.

“I was sitting on the plane with wi-fi and thought I’d punch it out for my family and friends myself.”